Book IX: The Kite and the Nightingale
A noted thief, the kite,Had set a neighbourhood in fright,And raised the clamorous noiseOf all the village boys,When, by misfortune,--sad to say,--A nightingale fell in his way.Spring's herald begg'd him not to eatA bird for music--not for meat.'O spare!' cried she, 'and I'll relate'The crime of Tereus and his fate.'--'What's Tereus? Is it food for kites?'--'No, but a king, of female rightsThe villain spoiler, whom I taughtA lesson with repentance fraught;And, should it please you not to kill,My song about his fallYour very heart shall thrill,As it, indeed, does all.'--Replied the kite, a 'pretty thing!When I am faint and famishing,To let you go, and hear you sing?'--'Ah, but I entertain the king!'--'Well, when he takes you, let him hearYour tale, full wonderful, no doubt;For me, a kite, I'll go without.'An empty stomach hath no ear.
Words in this poem
- spoiler n.
- One who spoils; a plunderer; a pillager; a robber; a despoiler.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: The Kite and the Nightingale is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Fables of La Fontaine, Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, the Elizur Wright translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean de La Fontaine, Book IX: The Kite and the Nightingale, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-18.html, id L28399.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Kite and the Nightingale is 26 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHIHIJJJJKLLK kiteA · frightA · noiseB · boysB · sayC · wayC · eatD · meatD · relateE · fateE · kitesF · rightsF · taughtG · fraughtG · killH · fallI · thrillH · allI · thingJ · famishingJ · singJ · kingJ · hearK · doubtL · withoutL · earK
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A noted thief, the kite, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Had set a neighbourhood in fright, | 8 | ········ |
| And raised the clamorous noise | 8 | ··˘·/˘˘· |
| Of all the village boys, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When, by misfortune,--sad to say,-- | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| A nightingale fell in his way. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Spring's herald begg'd him not to eat | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A bird for music--not for meat. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'O spare!' cried she, 'and I'll relate | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'The crime of Tereus and his fate.'-- | 8 | ········ |
| 'What's Tereus? Is it food for kites?'-- | 8 | ········ |
| 'No, but a king, of female rights | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The villain spoiler, whom I taught | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A lesson with repentance fraught; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And, should it please you not to kill, | 8 | ········ |
| My song about his fall | 6 | ······ |
| Your very heart shall thrill, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As it, indeed, does all.'-- | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Replied the kite, a 'pretty thing! | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| When I am faint and famishing, | 8 | ········ |
| To let you go, and hear you sing?'-- | 8 | ········ |
| 'Ah, but I entertain the king!'-- | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| 'Well, when he takes you, let him hear | 8 | ········ |
| Your tale, full wonderful, no doubt; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| For me, a kite, I'll go without.' | 8 | ········ |
| An empty stomach hath no ear. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.